Mercedes megaphone exhaust to roar in Spain

14 May, 2014

The world of Formula 1 will hear Mercedes’ headline grabbing megaphone exhaust for the first time early on Wednesday, the final day of the Formula 1 test in Barcelona.

The first images of the metre-long, trumpet-like attachment have already emerged, and one of the first to see the volume-boosting device was Bild correspondent Nicola Pohl who said, “It is extremely light, about 1.5 kilos. Before the funnel end there is a small hole.”

It will be fitted to Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes when the car is fired up on Wednesday morning at the post-Spanish Grand Prix test.

Some are looking forward to hearing a ‘loud’ Formula 1 car once again, following widespread criticism of the milder tone of this year’s turbo V6 engines.

Others are not happy that Formula 1 is making its highly-sophisticated and ‘green’ new engines artificially loud.

The governing FIA, however, is so serious it has engaged sound experts to work on the solution with Formula 1’s three engine makers Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault.

“The FIA have some acoustic consultants who have visited us and have had access to our existing dyno test results, including sound measurements,” said Renault’s Rob White.

But earlier, White’s boss Jean-Michel Jalinier insisted Formula 1 should not be ashamed of its more efficient – and therefore quieter – engine technology.

“You just have to move with the times,” he argued, “and it is no longer the time for a V10 or V8 using 60 litres of fuel every 100 kilometres.”

Some believe the more docile noise produced by a Formula 1 car in 2014 is a tribute to its brand new and impressive technology.

“[The 2014 ‘power unit’] uses less energy,” said White. “It does so more efficiently so there’s less falling out of the back as noise. I don’t sign up to the opinion that they sound horrible. Instead, I feel there is a positive message that has kind of got drowned out.”

White told the Daily Mail that he is not closing his ears to the calls for more noise, but there are paddock rumblings that Mercedes’ rivals are sceptical that the ‘megaphone’ exhaust might add performance to the German team’s already-dominant car.

“My short to medium term concern is we mustn’t be put in a situation where we take a performance hit relative to our competitors, directly or indirectly as a result of this subject,” he admitted. (GMM)